A bear is believed to have attacked and killed a 60-year-old Missouri man who was camping in the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas in a rare fatal attack, according to local officials.
The man's children called police in Newton County after they had not heard from their father during his trip to Sam's Throne campground for a couple of days, Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said in a statement.
Police found the man's body several yards beyond the campsite, with injuries akin to those from a large carnivore attack, the sheriff's office reported. The bear suspected to have attacked the man has been captured and killed.
Officials have yet to release the victim's name. Sheriff Wheeler noted that the bear believed responsible for the attack was killed after being sighted on camera at the campground earlier that day. Local hunters were summoned, and with the help of hounds, they were able to trail the bear and corner it.
The bear's remains will undergo necropsy and other tests, including DNA sampling to confirm its involvement in the attack. To be 100% certain, we will have to wait on possible DNA matches, but all indications are that this is the bear responsible for the fatal attack, Sheriff Wheeler stated. This is a relief to me and the community, and I thank God for this outcome. This was a dangerous bear. The campground remains temporarily closed.
The victim had previously sent his family images of a bear in his campsite, which aided them in identifying the animal—a young male matching the size and facial markings of the photographed bear.
Arkansas is home to over 5,000 black bears, which are the state's only bear species. Fatal bear attacks are uncommon in North America; from 1900 to 2009, only 63 people died from black bear attacks, according to a study in the Journal of Wildlife Management.
